FROM THIS EPISODE

The oral arguments are over and the speculation has already begun: does the Affordable Care Act have a future? What are the potential consequences for the law, the health system and the race for president? Also, the Trayvon Martin case has raised the issue of racial bias — conscious and otherwise -- in America's justice system. Why do we imprison more people that any place else in the world? Why are 60 percent black or Hispanic?

Banner image: The west front of the US Supreme Court Building in Washington, DC. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Whatever its ultimate ruling in June may be, the US Supreme Court made history this week. It's taken two years for the Affordable Care Act to reach the Court, which is lightening speed by normal standards. After three days of arguments, the fate of President Obama's most important legislative achievement is very much up in the air. Will the Supreme Court throw out the "mandate" to buy insurance? What about requirements already in effect, like insurance despite pre-existing conditions? What's the potential impact on this year's presidential election?

New facts are emerging in the case of Trayvon Martin, and the full story may never be known. But important questions are being raised about America's justice system. The United States has more people in prison than any place else in the world. Even televangelist Pat Robertson says we have too many people in prison, seven to 10 times as many proportionally as other developed countries. Sixty percent are black or Hispanic. We hear about violent crime, the war on drugs, and unconscious racial bias in the justice system.